Universal Unitarians

I'll admit I'd been eying the UU's for quite some time now. I just couldn't get anyone to commit to go with me. Normally I don't care if I do things alone. I've been to movies, restaurants, and even foreign countries alone but it never bothers me. For some reason churching alone does. After my sister promised to go then didn't wake up and, hence, sold me out, I went to the Unitarian Church all alone. I sat in the parking lot debating if I should actually get out, but since so many other parts of my life have failed, I refuse to fail in my spiritual journey!!!! ROAR!!!

Now then. This church was something else from the parking lot alone. I'm serious. The individuality warmed my heart. I saw bikers, an old guy dressed for adventure and smoking a giant stogie, a couple of girls with extreme purple/blue hair, dreadlocks...you name it. But I gotta tell you, what was more striking than the individuality was the overwhelming acceptance of these people by "everyone else." The majority of people were what I'd consider to be typical churchgoers: (minus the cleavage of Journey church, I checked) every day people with families, or couples, or solo acts in the periphery (like me). But everyone was so TOGETHER and that was beautiful to me. I think alot of churches probably SAY they welcome everyone, and probably even do for the first time that person visits. I hope they all truly continue doing this, but it was obvious that the Unitarian church doesn't even view this as a thing to consider. It was nice.

The electronic marquee outside says, "Many beliefs, one community, a better world." It's definitely one of the few places of religion I've been with any message other than "Many beliefs, but if you don't share ours then you're going to hell. And also Eff off." Of course, that's never on the marquee but it seems to be a consensus. I'm not saying one marquee is better than the other. What do I know? But if you'll recall the first blog I wrote, since I was a very young child it bothered me that some people may not get salvation because of what their heart truly, passionately believes. So that value of the UU's appeals to me. Part of me would love to belong to a church like this one, where I can't even tell what people believe. Part of me wants to pick a side that has chosen a side. You can't win the lottery if you don't buy the ticket, right?

The service itself was very interesting, but nothing like I've ever seen. They never mentioned God (though I'm not sure if they usually do or not). The theme for the talk/lecture/sermon was "The Artistic, Subversive and Sublime". They did mention some horrific sadnesses that caused everyone to throw pebbles into the place where pebbles go. There was singing. There was a very talented cellist from Salvador who supposedly improvised each selection. Then there was an awesome video clip about this guy Philippe Petit, a wire-walker who walked between the Twin Towers and Notre Dame. The congregation was then invited to "meditate" by walking across some balance beams set up in front to get the feeling of Philippe Petit. Far Out! A little bit WTF but mostly Far Out. I think the message was that we should take chances and not be afraid to live on the edge of life. I'm not sure if God signed off on this service or if his signature was even sought, but it was worth the hour.

The only other thing I'll mention is that one of the song's they sang was "This Little Light of Mine." I think this was the first time I ever heard grown-ups sing this song. I was very sad to discover that I didn't want to sing it because my light is in repair. So I will close with an open letter to God:

Dear God, please fix my light. Love Always, Kim.